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For the day I figured I'd remove myself from the chatter about the farcical cease-fire in western Asia and the oncoming reinstatement of Trump the Indominable Abomination (equally farcical) to mark the passing of David Lynch. These three articles reflecting on his work dropped into my inbox this morning. Discuss?
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Source: The Unz Review
Last weekend, US proxies launched a drone attack on a critical part of the TurkStream gas pipeline located in southwest Russia. The incident was largely ignored by the mainstream media, but its importance to energy starved Europeans cannot be overstated. The attack is clearly a continuation of the same hostile policy that led to the sabotage of the NordStream pipeline. (Note — The biggest act of industrial terrorism in history.) The strategic objective of these attacks is to isolate Russia by blocking all attempts at economic integration in order to divide the world into warring blocs. This process of ‘decoupling’ is intended to portray Russia as an emerging threat to the West thereby justifying Washington’s covert operations. This is from an article at the Asia Times:
The Ukrainians sent nine drones to attack a natural gas compressor station in the Krasnodar region of southern Russia. The compressor station was part of the TurkStream pipeline. All the drones were reportedly shot down. There was some minor damage, but the compressor station is operating normally.
The pipeline runs from Russia to Turkey (with) Some gas flows onwards to the European Union….
A key report says that “In 2024, Russian gas reached Europe via three routes: transit through Ukraine (30%), via Turkey and the Turkstream pipeline (31%) and as LNG (39%).” LNG deliveries come primarily from the US and Russia…. Neither the US nor Russia can increase LNG deliveries to make up for the cessation of transport through Ukraine. Had the Ukrainian attack on TurkStream been successful, over 60% of Europe’s imported natural gas supplies would have been cut off.
LNG is more expensive than pipeline gas, and there are problems with transport and transmission overland….
The destruction of most of the Nord Stream pipelines…., the Ukrainian shutdown and Ukraine’s attacks on TurkStream could very well destroy Europe’s ability to keep its factories running and homes and businesses heated…. The economic impact has already driven Germany into a recession and helped force the collapse of the Olaf Scholz coalition government….Cutting off gas deliveries and attacking pipelines that feed Europe could send Europe into a death spiral, but the Masters of Kyiv either don’t care or alternatively are trying to demonstrate to the Europeans that they better help bail out Ukraine or they will bite the hand that feeds them. Ukraine’s TurkStream pipeline attack sends a message to Europe, Asia Times
Naturally, a terrorist threat of this magnitude should have been headline news but, instead, the story was consigned to the back pages where it remained largely unnoticed. We must assume, however, that if the Ukrainian proxies were not acting on explicit orders from Washington, then US officials would have either rebuked them publicly or threatened to hold them accountable. But nothing like that happened. Instead, the White House shrugged off the incident as if nothing had taken place. That’s odd, isn’t it? The EU’s energy lifeline was a hair’s breadth away from obliteration, and the Biden crew didn’t show the slightest bit of interest. One can only conclude that their silence is an admission of guilt. In any event, Russia’s Top diplomat, Sergei Lavrov, was not duped by Washington’s performance nor did he hesitate to identify the United States as the responsible party. At a news conference on Tuesday, Lavrov stated bluntly:
The US does not tolerate competition in any sphere, including energy. They are recklessly endorsing terrorist activities aimed at undermining the energy stability of the European Union. They are encouraging their Ukrainian proxies to disable TurkStream following the sabotage of Nord Stream.
Lavrov’s allegations were ignored by the western media as were similar claims during the NordStream fracas in 2022. Even so, it’s worth paying attention to the cavalier way that Washington treats its EU allies whose long-term economic viability is being sacrificed so the US can inflict a “strategic defeat” on Russia. That seems like a high price to pay for an objective that delivers no tangible benefit. Here’s more from Aljazeera:
Russia said on Monday that it had downed nine Ukrainian drones that had tried to attack part of TurkStream’s infrastructure…..
The pipeline is the last carrying Russian gas into the EU after Ukraine refused to renew a transit contract that expired at the end of 2024. The halt on that route has further disrupted EU unity on the war, with Slovakia claiming it will cause a crisis and threatening to block EU support for Kyiv.
Russia called the targeting of the pipeline, which runs beneath the Black Sea to Turkiye before sending gas onwards to Hungary and Austria, an “act of energy terrorism”….
Moscow has accused US-backed Ukrainian agents of sabotaging Nord Stream. The pipeline beneath the Baltic Sea blew up in September 2022. Russia accuses US and Ukraine of targeting TurkStream gas pipeline, Aljazeera
These unprecedented acts of industrial sabotage help to show the desperation of western elites who see covert acts of terrorism as the only remedy to the erosion of their global power and their accelerating slide towards economic collapse. The sharp escalation of hostilities in Ukraine, the Middle East and the Taiwan Strait all indicate that US foreign policy mandarins have settled on war as the only remedy to their increasingly precarious financial situation. We expect this to get much worse after Trump takes office on Monday and the media begins to lay the groundwork for a war with Iran.
If we look carefully at the deliberations surrounding the ceasefire negotiations, we see that Israel’s real intention is not a cessation of hostilities, but a temporary lull in the action that will provide legal cover for officials in the exiting administration while burnishing Trump’s image as a “strong leader”. (Two birds with one stone.) And while Netanyahu has no intention of stopping the war until his plan for Greater Israel is achieved, he does need to address the political (and legal) requirements of his benefactors in order to express his gratitude for their “unconditional” support. This is from an article at antiwar.com titled Trump’s Envoy Pressured Netanyahu To Advance Gaza Ceasefire Deal:
Israeli media pundits are complaining about the pressure from the incoming Trump administration
…President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, leaned hard on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to get him to agree to compromises to advance a Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal, Israeli media reported on Monday.
Witkoff, a real estate investor, flew to Israel from Qatar to meet with Netanyahu on Saturday. The pressure Witkoff put on Netanyahu is being credited for the progress in negotiations in recent days, and officials from all sides are now saying an agreement is close.
According to Haaretz, Witkoff has “forced Israel to accept a plan that Netanyahu had repeatedly rejected over the past half year.” Netanyahu had been pushing for a deal that only involved a temporary ceasefire, but according to the reports, the new plan would involve a full Israeli withdrawal….
Reuters reported on Monday that mediators had given Israel and Hamas a final draft deal after a “breakthrough” in the talks and that officials would be discussing it on Tuesday….It’s unclear how Witkoff pressured Netanyahu or if he threatened to cut off military aid. antiwar.com
This is nonsense. No one is pressuring Bibi, least of all not anyone from the Trump transition team. As anyone who follows politics knows, Israel has a stranglehold on the White House, the foreign policy establishment and both Houses of Congress. Keep in mind, that when Biden told Bibi not to invade Rafah last year, Netanyahu thumbed his nose and stormed ahead anyway with zero consequences. So, he certainly didn’t cave in to the rookie Witkoff. Also, if Trump had actually put pressure on Netanyahu, we would have heard howls of protest from the large gathering of fanatical settlers he invited to his inauguration. But that hasn’t happened. Take a look:
A delegation of extremist Israeli Jewish settler leaders has been invited to participate in US President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration next Monday in Washington, Israel Hayom reported on 13 January….
The group will attend the inauguration as official guests and will hold meetings with incoming administration officials and leaders from the US Jewish and evangelical Christian communities…
“Our objective is to strengthen existing connections and forge new ones. Washington’s attention is elsewhere at present. Trump is focused on Greenland sovereignty matters, not Israel’s concerns in Judea and Samaria. Timing is crucial. We must proceed strategically and appropriately,” a council official told the Hebrew newspaper.
The Israeli settler movement enjoys strong influence in the US Republican Party and with President-elect Trump. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his settler supporters often compare Trump to the Biblical Persian King Cyrus, who helped the Jews return from Babylon to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple.
During his first presidential term, Trump recognized Israeli sovereignty over the occupied Syria Golan Heights. Israel has been illegally occupying the Golan since 1967 and occupied additional land there immediately after the fall of the Syrian government last month. Jewish settler leaders anticipate that Trump will help them achieve their goal of annexing the West Bank, which Israel also occupied illegally in 1967, and forcibly expelling its indigenous Palestinian population.
The expectation extends in part from a $100 million donation to his campaign from US-Israeli billionaire Mariam Adelson. Extremists to Attend Trump Inauguration, The Cradle
Trump is the most Zionist president in US history. He’s not going to force Bibi to do anything. The Witkoff performance was designed to convince MAGA supporters that Trump is “the boss”. But it’s all for show. Trump has already given Netanyahu a green light to “finish the job” in Gaza and the West Bank; just as he is already on record saying that Israel should strike Iranian nuclear sites which is the fast-track to a Third World War. In other words, Trump will be taking his marching orders from Tel Aviv just like every other president for the last 50 years.
This is from an article at The Hill on Wednesday:
President-elect Trump lauded the Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal struck Wednesday, saying it would not have happened without his victory in November over Vice President Harris.
“This EPIC ceasefire agreement could have only happened as a result of our Historic Victory in November, as it signaled to the entire World that my Administration would seek Peace and negotiate deals to ensure the safety of all Americans, and our Allies,” he said in a Truth Social post.
Trump said his special envoy for the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, worked closely with President Biden’s negotiators to reach a conclusion on the deal… Trump said the Witkoff and his incoming national security team “will continue to work closely with Israel and our Allies to make sure Gaza NEVER again becomes a terrorist safe haven.”
“We will continue promoting PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH throughout the region, as we build upon the momentum of this ceasefire to further expand the Historic Abraham Accords. This is only the beginning of great things to come for America, and indeed, the World!” he added….
Trump had warned of “all hell” breaking loose in the Middle East if Hamas did not release hostages before he is sworn into office on Monday. Trump: My presidential win led to Israel-Hamas ceasefire, The Hill
Obviously, this political stunt was concocted some time ago with the intention of inflating Trump’s image as a strong and sage leader. The whole production appears to be a remake of the Iranian hostage crisis in which Tehran was persuaded to hold onto the hostages until Jimmy Carter left office. That made Reagan look like a bigtime hero who scared America’s enemies into submission. This silly ceasefire kabuki is just too similar to the original version to be anything more than a public relations fraud. What it tells us is that the puppet-masters in Tel Aviv want to pump-up Trump’s public approval ratings before he drags the country to war with Iran.
It’s worth noting, that Israel has not yet driven the Palestinians out of Gaza which means the conflict will persist for some time to come. This is why we should ignore the “ceasefire” smokescreen and focus on developments in the Sinai which is the only area big enough to accommodate 2 million refugees. Check out this excerpt from an article at The Cradle:
As Israel accuses Egypt of military buildup in the Sinai Peninsula, tensions between the two states…. are reaching a boiling point. Israeli officials and allied neoconservative think tanks are now actively escalating rhetoric alleging Cairo’s breach of the peace treaty while hinting at Tel Aviv’s ambitions to expand into Egyptian territory.
In September 2024, the Washington-based Foundation for the Defense of Democracies (FDD) published a report accusing Egypt of allegedly aiding Hamas through tunnels leading into Gaza to enable the Palestinian resistance movement to build its military capabilities. The charges are a stretch, given Cairo’s long-held acrimony toward Muslim Brotherhood-linked organizations. Normalizing expansion: Israel sets its sights on Egypt’s Sinai, The Cradle
Egypt border wall
“Hamas tunnels” is favorite Israeli justification for bombing hospitals, mosques, schools, universities and civilian infrastructure. Now we expect it will be used to breach the border and drive the Palestinians in Egypt. Here’s more:
….in September, Israeli military analyst Alon Ben-David admitted on Channel 13 News that “no single open tunnel has been found in the Egyptian territory. No single usable tunnel has been discovered under the Philadelphi Corridor.”
However, Tel Aviv’s allegations did not end there. Israel’s former ambassador to Egypt, David Govrin, has now accused Cairo of violating the normalization treaty by strengthening its military presence in the Sinai. He was quoted by Yedioth Aharonoth as saying, “after all these years, and even after 7 October 2023, questions remain about Egypt’s genuine recognition of Israel within its 1948 borders.”
On 7 January, t he occupation state formally demanded explanations from Egypt regarding its military activities in Sinai, citing treaty violations related to demilitarization….Normalizing expansion: Israel sets its sights on Egypt’s Sinai, The Cradle
So, Israel is clearly conjuring up a pretext for carrying out its plan to push the native population into the Sinai. This is the Zionist endgame, complete control over all the land between the river to the sea. That objective cannot be accomplished if the ceasefire holds, so the ceasefire will not hold. That much is certain. Here’s more:
In the aftermath of Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, relations between Cairo and Tel Aviv began to sour significantly. The occupation state initially proposed that Egypt facilitate ethnic cleansing via a mass expulsion of Gaza’s population into Sinai, creating a buffer zone between Gaza and occupied Palestine. President Sisi outright rejected the plan, sparking further tensions….
The Zionist vision for expansion into Egypt
Last year, uncovered documents in the British National Archives shed light on Israel’s historical campaign to legitimize its claim over the Sinai Peninsula. During Israel’s occupation of Sinai following the 1967 war, pro-Israel lobbyists and think tanks in the west disseminated narratives to delegitimize Egyptian sovereignty over the strategic region....
…similar arguments have resurfaced to justify Israel’s expansionist ambitions. On 6 January, Israeli-Arabic social media accounts published a map showcasing the supposed territories of the ancient kingdoms of Judah and Israel… these claims …. subtly include parts of modern Egypt, particularly Sinai. Normalizing expansion: Israel sets its sights on Egypt’s Sinai, The Cradle
(See also: British documents reveal Israeli plans to nullify Egyptian sovereignty over strategic Sinai Peninsula, Middle East Monitor)
So, while the genocide continues in Gaza, and Israeli airstrikes persist in Lebanon, and sectarian warfare escalates in Syria, and the US and UK continue their bombing of Yemen; the battlespace is being prepared for an even bigger and more cataclysmic event; preemptive airstrikes on Iranian oil fields, nuclear sites and critical infrastructure. That is what’s in store for all of us in the months and years ahead if Israel is not stopped. And with Trump taking office on Monday, the chances of stopping Israel are worse than ever.
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Source: Strategic Culture Foundation
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